Before They Ever Met
by gleeme33
Summary: He saw her in his dreams before they ever met. Dark Finchel one-shot.


**Just a one-shot because I'm inspired but have to go out to dinner with the family soon. Thanks and enjoy.**

He saw her in his dreams.

Before they ever met.

It happened for so many nights. Finn Hudson would fall asleep at night and see the exact same scene play out before him. He dreamed there was a dark night – women weeping, children crying, men moaning. Each mourning member of the gray-fly choir held a single lit candle in one palm – probably in order to provide light – and a purple lilac in the other. He dreamed he was a member of that choir – mourning this girl's untimely death. Who the girl was, though, he had no idea.

There was no light in the pitch-black sky. No comfort from the stars, which were unrealistically dim. No comfort from the moon, which was not even visible. It was hot – nearly summer. Spring was coming to an untimely, melancholy end. Finn, like the other mourners, held a candle to light his way up the steep hill he was currently climbing. Step by step he grew a little closer to the gathering of men, women and children. Also like the others, he was dressed much differently from his usual style – now he dawned black dress pants, a tucked-in, white pirate-shirt, black dress shoes, and black suspenders. Finn's climb up the hill felt like it took decades, but when he finally reached the gathered group, he heard a low voice murmur:

"Such a shame. Such a sin."

_Those you've known_

_And lost, still walk behind you_

_All alone_

_They linger till they find you_

_Without them_

_The world grows dark around you_

_And nothing is the same until you know that they have found you…_

Finn took a deep breath and held onto his flower a little tighter. He wanted to say goodbye to her. He _needed _to. It was if they were tethered somehow, by an invisible threat – and through her death, this threat has snapped apart, leaving Finn to pick up the pieces of silver string she left behind. He needed to see her; _be_ with her – in this moment it felt like all he ever wanted. Nothing else mattered – he needed to save her, to stop this…but he was too late. She was already gone, lost – _dead_. However she was, she was dead.

_Those you've pained_

_May carry that still with them_

_All the same_

_They whisper: "All forgiven."_

_Still your heart says_

_The shadows bring the starlight_

_And everything you've ever been is still there in the dark night…_

A woman in a vibrant red dress stood there, sobbing. She cried and cried as if she had caused the girl her death herself. Near her, a girl in green with long, wild brown hair shook her head, as if in total disbelief that something like this could happen. Holding her hand was a boy with hair that stuck up straight; his eyes glazed over as if he too were dead. This boy with the high hair spotted Finn and put his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he told Finn. "I'm so sorry…"

They stood before her open casket. It was black, like the night that hung over them, shinny and reflective, too. It took Finn seeing his reflection in the glimmer coming off of it to realize he was crying now; his tears were so heartbreakingly silent…

_When the northern wind blows_

_The sorrows your heart holds_

_There are those who still know –_

_They're still home_

_We're still home_

_Though you know_

_You've left them far behind_

_You walk on by yourself, and not with them –_

_Still you know_

_They will fill your heart and mind_

_When they say there's a way through this…_

And there she was. Her body, though now just what was left behind, was like that of an angel's. Her skin was snow white, paler then the very death she had faced. Her hair was black, like the casket that incased her and the night that nearly consumed her away from them. Her lips were red, like the blood she had surely shed; like the horrific death she had too soon suffered. She was perfect, but she was dead. Her small, cold hands were folded, making an _X _across her chest, and her eyes, though once deep and brown, were now closed forever, never to open again; never to see again the world so grand in front of them.

The three mourners near Finn left him alone with her now. His heart ached. She was _dead_. He didn't even know her, but he loved her. In another life, maybe, they were in love. Forever bound, perhaps, by the vows of marriage, or the ties of their hearts, or even just the sweet smiles of budding, unfamiliar love, creeping it's way to them. Shot – Finn felt as if he were shot, a bullet in one snap of a gun, or an arrow in one pull of a quiver, bringing him down to the hot ground – killing him. He was killed, dead, lost, gone. Only because she was.

One last look at her, and he'd wake, thinking he'd never feel that way again.

_Those you've known_

_And lost, still walk behind you_

_All alone_

_Their song still seems to find you_

_They call you_

_As if you knew their longing –_

_They whistle through the lonely wind, the long blue shadows falling_

_All alone_

_But still I hear their yearning_

_Through the dark, the moon, alone there, burning_

_The stars too_

_They tell of spring returning –_

_And summer with another wind that no one yet has known…_

The next morning, Finn Hudson struggled to get out of bed, but eventually made it to William McKinley High. Walking down the halls as he normally did, he saw her – Her skin was snow white, paler then the very death she had faced. Her hair was black, like the casket that incased her and the night that nearly consumed her away from them. Her lips were red, like the blood she had surely shed; like the horrific death she had too soon suffered. It was her. She was _here_ – _alive_. Real, found, _alive_!

"Hey, hey!" He called, and she turned around. "Wait up!"

"Yes?" She asked as her brown eyes widened.

"I…um…" but what could he say? "I…I'm Finn."

"Rachel."

And she had a name, too! Rachel – _Rachel_, a name for an angel, for a star, for something beautiful and bright enough to light the entire world.

"So…?" Rachel teetered on her heels.

"Oh – I, um…do you want to…do something, sometime?"

"Is this a trick?" She demanded. "Are you just _waiting _to slushy me?"

"_No_!" He cried. "No, I mean – I…no. No, it's not a trick."

"Well in that case, it was very nice to meet you, Finn. And yes. I'd love to do something, sometime."

But she would never know.

He loved her.

Before they ever met.

**Lyrics: _Those You've Known _from: _Spring Awakening_**

**Review?**


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